An Enigma of Broken Wings
by Catlorde
Summary: Still reeling from the Time War, the Doctor finds comfort in a mysterious creature that no one has ever seen. Things get more complicated when he discovers that this kindred spirit is a member of one of the deadliest species in the Universe.
1. Chapter 1

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 ** _Chapter One_**

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"Scaredy ploc!" One of the older boys crowed from his point high on top of one of the massive boulders while the other children snickered.

The younger boy, Actom, gazed up at the others with a mixture of fear and anger, caught between the yawning darkness of the tunnel mouth and the ridicule of those half a head taller than him. "Am not!"

"Prove it, then!" Hawee, the boy that had originally called out, taunted. "Either you stole it, or you didn't!"

"Didn't!" He had, though. He'd stolen Hawee's most prized possession, a small wooden Arroc. It was only a wooden replica of the animal, vaguely horse-shaped and held together with a few pieces of string. Not worth very much, all in all. But Hawee liked it, therefore it was 'cool'. Actom really didn't see the appeal, but he'd borrowed it when the older boy wasn't looking. He'd always meant to take it back, of course; after he'd studied it enough to feel confident in building his own. But, unfortunately, the damned thing had been crushed when Actom had stepped on it 'accidentally-on-purpose'. Hawee couldn't know that, though. No one could. If Hawee found out, Actom would never hear the end of it. He was already an outcast as it was, so breaking the favorite toy of the big kid on the block would certainly ruin his chances of ever having another friend ever again. So when Hawee and his goons came around, asking if anyone had seen it, Actom had said no. Now, Hawee wasn't the brightest kid, but Actom was only five cycles old and a terrible liar. Hawee had seen straight through it and, in an attempt to prove Actom's guilt and get his toy back, insisted the younger boy enter the Labyrinth of Mercy.

"Then you don't have anything to worry about," Hawee snickered. "The creature will show you the way... _if_ you're innocent!"

"My mother always said that the creature is just a myth!" Actom called back, balling his hands into fists. "And it's not if you're innocent, it's if you're worth forgiving!"

"Your mother's not here! She's dead! Your father killed her!"

Actom flinched. This was common knowledge, but it still hurt.

"Follow in his footsteps! Face your guilt!"

Actom took one last, poisonous look at the lush green forests, at the clear blue sky, and at the gaggle of children peering down at him. Mind made up, he took one step, and then another, and another; into the gaping darkness.

Maybe the creature would be kind.

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"What do you think? You could stay here. Fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go… anywhere."

"Is it always this dangerous?"

He smiled. "Yeah."

"Yeah, I can't. I've gotta go and find my mum… and someone's gotta look after this stupid lump, so…"

"Okay." The Doctor relented, working hard to keep from sounding hurt. "See you around."

He held her gaze for a moment before stepping back into the blue box. The click the door made sounded so final to the Time Lord's old ears. It felt like he was closing the door on something else. A second chance, maybe. A second chance at being the man he used to be.

The Doctor heaved a weary sigh as he pulled a lever that started the TARDIS into motion. It had been a long shot, anyway. It wouldn't have made him feel any better. A band-aid on a bullet wound. Bubble-gum shoved into a crack in a dam. Temporary. Temporary. Temporary.

He wandered around the console distractedly, pressing buttons and flipping switches on instinct rather than intent. No real destination in mind, he let the TARDIS more or less steer herself while he buried himself in his own dark thoughts.

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	2. Chapter 2

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 _ **Chapter Two**_

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The Doctor poked his head out from around the TARDIS door. He took one deep breath of the cool breeze before striding out into the moist landscape, mood somewhat improved.

Rain later, he thought, gazing around at the scene before him. It was a small town, lined with brown brick shops with fairy lights in the windows, warm light and smells leaking out into the muddy streets. Powerlines stretched between the shops. The Doctor followed them with his eyes and they directed his attention to the lush mountainside on one side of the town, and the steep drop off on the other. Beyond the drop off he could see the continuation of the mountain range, smooth, rolling hulks of dirt covered with thick, leafy trees; shrouded in mist.

The Doctor strolled through the main street, taking note of the aliens he passed. They looked human, or Time Lord, depending on your perspective. A little shorter than average, but near enough. The Doctor was a tall man, so he got a few odd looks. Nothing too out of the ordinary, though.

The Doctor stopped beside a newspaper stand, peering at the titles with mild interest. He didn't really read any of them, but names like 'Saint Stonpul' and 'North Swafburnfer' stuck out. Assuming North Swafburnfer was the name of the town, then that would put him on… he mentally ticked off a list of options… Glocnappenspa, probably. A small Earth-like world on the far side of the Andromeda Galaxy. He glanced up at the slowly darkening sky. He couldn't be sure until nightfall, then he could calculate his position based on the stars.

A group of seven or more children hurried past him, drawing his attention away from the sky. They were strangely quiet for a bunch of children, which is what drew his attention to them in the first place. A few of them were muddy, and one or two were close to tears. The Doctor watched as they scurried off down the road before, curiosity getting the better of him, he ambled off after them.

The Doctor shadowed the group to the outskirts of the town to what appeared to be a large farm house surrounded by an aging white picket fence. He paused to read the large ornate sign hanging by the front, proudly displaying the words: 'State Children's Home - Matron Malwom' in loopy red letters.

The Time Lord, ever so confident, marched right up to the front door, where he was greeted by the sight of the child gang crowding around an older woman with snaggly teeth and a somewhat impressive mole on her right cheek.

"... and he just went in!" One of the boys, a blond with a heavy brow was saying.

"Why would he do that?" The woman, whom the Doctor assumed was Matron Malwom, exclaimed.

The blond boy shuffled his feet guiltily. "Cos we dared 'im too."

"Well, I never!" The Matron sputtered, looking slightly panicked. "You all know that you're not supposed to go anywhere near the tunnels! Much less dare anyone to go in!"

The Doctor decided to make himself known. "Hello! Is there anything I can do to help?" The Doctor asked cheerfully, putting on his best smile and beaming down at the tearful little boy.

The Matron glared at him impassively. "I think not, Mister…?"

"Just 'the Doctor', thanks," the Doctor offered, managing to keep the smile plastered on his face despite the woman's harsh tone. "What's this about kids going missing?"

The Matron opened her mouth to respond, but the boy beat her to it. "The tunnels, mister. The Labyrinth. Actom's gone inside." Fresh tears began welling up in his eyes. "We ain't gonna see 'im again. An' it's my fault."

The Doctor knelt down in front of the boy. "What's your name?"

"Hawee," the boy answered, peering up at him with dark brown eyes.

"Hawee," the Doctor repeated, "why would it be your fault?"

"It was my idea," Hawee admitted guiltily. "He took my toy, y'see. I just wanted him to give it back, but he said he didn't take it."

"He dared him to go into the Labyrinth," a little girl with eyes so blue they were nearly purple piped up. "Cos if you're innocent, you can get back out."

"How long ago did Actom go in?" The Doctor asked, picking up on the urgency of the situation.

"Hours ago," the girl answered. "We all went just after lunch."

The Doctor got back on his feet and turned to see that Matron Malwom was on the phone, presumably with the police. She slammed the phone back down on the hook rather harshly, causing the Doctor to raise his eyebrows.

"Police?" He pressed. "What did they say?"

"This is North Swafburnfer," she snapped, "we don't have proper police. Nothing ever happens here. The best they could do is redirect me to West Swafburnfer, who redirected me to the State's office…"

"And?" The Doctor prompted.

"They're sending out a search and rescue."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?"

"But they won't be sent out until morning," she continued. "And then it'll take them hours to get here. The State dispatch is nearly four hundred miles away. The best they can do is sometime around mid afternoon."

"That's a long time," the Doctor conceded. "Right, I have a bit of experience with this sort of thing. I'll go an' have a look."

The Matron shook her head in disapproval. "I don't think that's wise. People go in there all the time and don't come back out. All you'll succeed in doing is giving them two people to find tomorrow."

"We can't just leave him down there on his own!" The Doctor protested. "Don't worry about me, I can handle myself pretty well."

Matron Malwom glared at him disbelievingly.

The Doctor sighed. "Alright, I won't go in. I'll just have a look. Really could use someone to point me in the right direction, though."

"I'll show you!" Hawee insisted, bouncing up and down on one foot eagerly while waving his hand in the air. He was immediately accompanied by the whole gaggle of children, all with varying stages of guilt and ready to be of use.

"Absolutely not!" Matron Malwom snapped. "One of you can go and show him the way, and then come straight back. I'll call Patron Broodo."

"Who's that?" The Doctor inquired, glancing at her over the flurry of hands waving around in his face for his attention.

"The Reverend." At the Doctor's blank stare, she added, "The owner of the land the Labyrinth is on. The Worship Center, Saint Stonpul, is just up the hill from there."

"Ah." The Doctor snagged one of the hands and pulled Hawee out of the fray. "Good. He can tell me more about this 'labyrinth'."

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As promised, Patron Broodo met them at the top of the steep slope. He was an older man, probably in his late fifties, with a weak chin and extremely bushy eyebrows. He stood in front of the large white-stone building that served as the North Swafburnfer place of worship, hands tucked into the baggy sleeves of his hideous yellow robe.

Hawee bounded up the path ahead of the Doctor. Having woven all sorts of stories about the Labyrinth on the way, Hawee balked at the sight of the Patron's severe look and decided to hide behind the Doctor.

"You must be Patron Broodo," the Doctor greeted cheerfully as soon as he was close enough. "I'm the Doctor. Been hearing all about you on the way over."

"Horrible things, I'm sure," Broodo sniffed airily. "Boring Broodo, all the children call me. Brooding Broodo. Bland Broodo. Banal Broodo."

The Doctor looked a little uncomfortable at this declaration, but relaxed when he saw the good natured gleam in the man's eyes. He reached out and shook Broodo's hand heartily. "I think I'd rather come up with my own opinion on that, Patron."

Broodo smiled back warmly. "I hope it's a positive one, my friend. But first, we have a much more important matter on our hands."

"Right." The Doctor instantly became serious once more. "Show me these tunnels."

Broodo led the way down the steep grassy hill and into the dense forest, explaining on the way. "The Labyrinth has been a part of the culture of Swafburnfer for longer than anyone can remember. The Legends go back centuries. Stories about the people that go into the caves."

"Earlier," the Doctor interrupted, "someone mentioned that you can only come out of the tunnels if you're innocent."

"That's part of it," Broodo confirmed. "Someone hasn't been listening to my lessons."

Hawee shuffled nervously.

"The simple version is: You go into the Labyrinth to confess your sins. If the creature of the Labyrinth deems you innocent or... worthy of forgiveness, it'll lead you to the surface. If not, you'll never be seen again." Broodo laughed dryly. "Long ago, the people around here used this as a justice system. They would lead the criminal to the entrance. From there, the accused could accept the creature's decision, or die. If it sends them back, the church would sentence them penance."

"Sounds a bit harsh," the Doctor commented dryly. "Do you lot still do that? And what sort of creature?"

"Of course not," Broodo sighed. "That system fell when the State was formed. No one really knows what the creature is, or, beyond the faith of the church, if it even exists."

"What do you believe, Patron?" The Doctor asked curiously.

"I'm religious, Doctor," Broodo gave him a sideways look, "I believe what the Church has taught me."

"And what do your studies say?"

"It has many names. The most popular one is 'Creature of the Labyrinth', but the oldest translation refers to it as 'The Adjudicator'."

"That's what really made Actom go in," Hawee said gloomily, speaking up for the first time since the Patron had joined them. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Brought what up?" The Doctor asked, turning to study the young boy.

"His mum and dad." Hawee refused to meet the Doctor's eyes.

"Did they go in the Labyrinth?" The Doctor pressed gently.

Hawee refused to answer, so the Doctor turned to Broodo.

"Two years ago," the Patron explained in a hushed voice, "the boy's father killed his mother while in a rage. When he realized what he had done, he went to the Labyrinth."

"I thought you said you lot didn't use that as a justice system anymore?" The Doctor scoffed.

"We don't. He made it there before the State Officers could arrest him. He couldn't handle the guilt of his actions, so he let the Spirits settle it for him."

"Not sure how much I like your State's dispatch," the Doctor complained. "They take forever to get anything done."

Broodo hummed in agreement. "The Labyrinth is generally unoccupied these days. It is only used by those suffering with guilt, or thrill seekers that don't know what they're getting into."

"How much further?" As soon as the words left his mouth, the Doctor spotted a large, gaping hole in the side of a hill. In front of the gap stood two boulders, one on either side of the mouth, each easily three times the Doctor's height. "Ah."

The Doctor paced over to the tunnel mouth, peering into the wall of darkness. He bent down and picked up a stone, tossing it up into the air and catching it before hurling it into the tunnel. He frowned when it vanished entirely, listening to the clatter of stone on stone as it landed less than ten feet into the maze.

The Doctor gave a low whistle. "Blimey, that's dark. How big is the Labyrinth, exactly?"

"No one knows. As soon as you lose sight of the entrance, it is impossible to keep a sense of direction. There are so many twists and turns that it is impossible to find your way out again."

"Unless the creature shows you the way?"

Broodo nodded.

The Doctor noticed how the Patron had suddenly gone very pale, so he asked, "Have you ever been in the Labyrinth?"

Broodo didn't answer directly, but developed a very haunted look. "I sometimes hear it. Screaming in the night. I don't know if it is a benevolent force or a creature from the pits of hell. But whatever it is, we need to find young Actom."

Both of the men jumped when a small object came flying out of the cave mouth to land neatly at the Doctor's feet. The Time Lord leaned down and picked up the exact same stone he had thrown in minutes before.

They both jumped again at a shout from Hawee.

"Actom!"

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	3. Chapter 3

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 _ **Chapter Three**_

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Wrapped snugly in the Doctor's leather jacket, Actom, accompanied by his new best friend, Hawee, happily sipped on a form of hot cider at Matron Malwom's. He'd told his story five times already, once to the Doctor and Patron Broodo at the tunnel mouth, a second time to Hawee on the trip, and no less than three more times once they'd gotten back to the Children's Home. And the other kids couldn't get enough of it. Despite the fact that he had been plainly cold and scared when they'd first found him, the Doctor wasn't nearly as worried now as he stood watching the young boy enthusiastically recounting the story yet again to his new fan club.

"So, I walked straight in. And boy, was it dark! I couldn't see so much as my hand if I held it right in front of my face. I wasn't scared though, no sir-ee. So I just kept walking, and walking. For miles and miles and miles, until I finally decided that I was tired of exploring. There wasn't much to see, ya know. So I turned back. Then I walked miles and miles back. And after all those miles and all that walking, I was getting hungry, ya know, and then I realized that I couldn't remember if I had tuned left or turned right at an intersection. I wasn't scared though. I really wasn't. So I sat down to have a break. And while I was sitting there, it felt like someone was listening, so I started talking. I told them all about Hawee's toy and that I only meant to borrow it. And I talked about my dad and how he came to the tunnels, too, so I was like him. But then, when I had almost gone to sleep from sitting so long, guess what I heard!"

Even though they'd already heard it three times, all the kids leaned forward eagerly.

"What? What?"

"Tell us!"

"Please!"

Actom continued in a dramatic whisper. "My name. 'Actom', like that. And you wanna know who it was that said it?"

"Who?"

"Who was it?"

"My dad." A huge, happy smile spread across Actom's face. "It was my dad. He told me that I should tell the truth to Hawee and help him fix his toy. Then he grabbed my hand and started leading me down the right tunnels, and before I knew it, I was outside and Hawee was hugging me. So how about that?"

Now that the kids weren't paying him any attention, the Doctor leaned over to Broodo, who had joined him in leaning against the wall, to ask, "His father's voice, have you heard of that happening before?"

Broodo nodded grimly. "Yes. The creature has no voice of its own, so it steals that of someone else. Sometimes it is of someone close to you, sometimes it's your own, but not always."

"Patron Broodo, I have to admit, it looks like your 'Adjudicator' creature actually exists."

The Patron sniffed airily. "I could've told you that."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at anything you have on it. Stories, legends, anything."

Broodo grinned enthusiastically. "You have to be the first person in years that asked about the creature that isn't struggling with some kind of massive guilt-complex."

The Doctor smiled weakly, but didn't bother to correct him.

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On their way out, the Doctor and Broodo were stopped by Actom, who wanted to return the Doctor's coat.

"Thanks," the Doctor praised, tossing the jacket over one shoulder. "How're you holding up?"

"Good," Actom said with an eager nod. "Thanks for coming to get me."

The Doctor ruffled his hair fondly. "Just keep yourself and everyone else out of those tunnels. Next time you might not be so lucky."

"I know," the boy said solemnly. "My dad said to stay away unless it was serious."

"Even then," the Time Lord warned, "that place isn't safe. Talk to someone else before you risk it down there. Several more people, in fact." The Doctor started to leave, but turned back as a thought occurred to him. "Actom, right before you came out of the cave, why did you throw a stone?"

Actom was instantly confused. "I didn't."

"Don't fib," the Doctor chided gently.

"I promise." The young boy drew an 'x' over his heart. "I didn't throw any rocks. Don't know why I would throw a rock." He lowered his voice to a conspiratory whisper. "I was too scared to throw rocks. But don't tell them that, okay?"

The Doctor agreed and turned to follow after Patron Broodo, who was waiting for him on the porch, slightly more disturbed and intrigued than he had been before. If that were even possible.

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The Doctor coughed and waved at the dust motes that clouded the air around his head. He sneezed twice and flipped open the cover of the giant dusty tome, fingering the delicate pages with great care.

Broodo emerged from the dark library, carrying yet another stack of well worn books, filling the air with the musty scent of moldy pages and ink. The Doctor focused hard on deciphering the messy scribbles of the book he had picked out, trying not to sneeze again.

"The stories go back centuries," Broodo was saying, voice muffled by the stack of paper that easily reached higher than his face. "Voices in the dark. Explorers getting lost in the tunnels, some encountering a creature, others being picked off, one by one, by something no one could see." He dropped the stack on the table, stirring up another cloud of dust, much to the Doctor's annoyance. "Eventually, people started getting the idea to record these encounters, which then planted the seeds for Saint Stonpul. Anyone that intends to test the tunnels comes through me, and I take note of whether they return or not and document their experience, just like those before me have for nearly a thousand years."

The Doctor sneezed. "Blimey! Sorry. If you bunch all these encounters together, what do they all have in common? Any physical traits? Thousand years, surely someone must've seen something."

"Nothing concrete, I'm afraid," Broodo admitted, dusting off his mustard yellow robe and sitting across the table from the Time Lord. "But if you'll take a look at this journal here…" He passed another thick tome across for the Doctor's inspection. "It recounts the efforts of an expedition team. Nearly two hundred years ago, as recorded by Patron Curloom, a team of twenty went down into the Labyrinth. They took several weeks worth of provisions, ample torches and lanterns, even ropes and markers so they could find their way."

"Did they make it out again?"

"Some of them." Broodo nodded to the book, indicating that the Doctor should read it for himself. "They mapped out tunnel for three days without issue, but then… things started going wrong."

"Wrong how?"

"The explorers started… hearing things. Whispers of the dead… so they say, telling them to leave. Then lanterns began going out on their own, ropes were cut. Then the screaming started."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows impatiently when Broodo paused for effect.

"A woman or a child, calling out for help in the darkness. Someone would investigate, and they would vanish. Sometimes they found bodies, sometimes not. Then it began using the voices of the people that had gone missing, calling out to the survivors, telling them that they'd found something."

"Did none of them actually see anything?"

"Getting to that," The Patron sniffed, annoyed at being interrupted again. "There aren't any physical descriptions. But it's described as equally beautiful and terrible. Unstoppable, no matter the weapon. It just keeps coming, no matter what."

The Doctor sighed audibly. "Nice story. But not much help." He stood and stretched. "If we only had an idea of where it came from, then we might have a shot at figuring out what it is."

"I'm afraid I can't be of much use there," The Patron shrugged. "So unless you intend on going in for yourself, the mystery will remain as it is."

The Doctor grunted. He stared at the table hard, lost in his own thoughts.

"Surely, you don't plan on going in the Labyrinth?"

The Doctor grunted again, not really listening.

"Because if you do… I can prepare a Confessional… to increase your chances of being led back to the light."

The Time Lord snorted mirthlessly and shook his head. "Wouldn't do me any good."

"So… now what?"

The Doctor stood abruptly. "Now… nothing. You're right. There's nothing else we can do apart from keeping people out of the caves. Keep 'em safe from an ancient and fascinating creature that's chosen to live alone in the dark." A sour look crossed his face. "An intelligent creature with mercy and a sense of right and wrong." The sour look was replaced by a more wistful one. "And make do with never knowing what or why."

Broodo raised his bushy eyebrows skeptically. "You don't sound like a man that plans on letting something remain unknown forever."

The Doctor shoved his hands in his pockets moodily. "A long time ago, I would've gone straight in without a second thought. But I'm not that sort of man. Not anymore."

"What changed?"

The Doctor turned and started slowly for the door. "I've done things. Horrible things. The man that would've gone in might've been brought back out. But now…" The Doctor shook his head to clear it. "Thanks for everything, but I best be off. Say goodbye to Hawee and Actom for me."

Broodo called after the Time Lord, but received no response. Later that day, after the rain and during his daily walk through town, he would ponder over a strange dry spot in the mud. Large and square, like someone had sat a large, heavy box down before the rain had started and then had it removed after the storm had ended.

 _Curious._ He would think. _Curious._

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It was a bad night.

The screaming just wouldn't stop. It echoed through the empty TARDIS halls, and the Doctor wasn't sure if it was real or in his head.

The Last of the Time Lords paced around the TARDIS console, not pulling any levers or pushing any buttons. Just walking. Around and around and around until his back ached and his legs felt like jelly, but he didn't care. Because if he stopped, even for a moment, they would get him. The Doctor wasn't even sure who 'they' were, but they reached out for him from the darkest shadows of the console room, threatening to pull him down so he could burn with them.

Fear bubbled up in his chest and he mopped feverishly at the beads of sweat dripping down his brow.

Maybe he deserved it.

The TARDIS hummed sadly as her lights flickered at him in a poor attempt to distract him, but to no avail.

It started off innocently enough. A trip with the coordinates set to random. He'd ended up with a family just before they set sail on the Titanic. Nice people. They fed him dinner and provided him with a place to stay for the night. In that time he managed to convince them to hold off on the trip to America. Everything was fine.

Then he made the mistake of boarding the Titanic in their place. He wasn't sure what possessed him, but he stood on the deck, amidst the panic and the chaos. Stone still with his hands shoved in the pockets of his leather jacket, he watched mothers and children board the boats. Watched as children and lovers kissed their parents and loved ones for the last time. Watched as those that there wasn't room for broke down after their families had gone. Watched some of the crew have one last smoke. Watched as a little boy, no older than three, cried out for his mother when he was left behind.

And he did nothing.

Krakatoa. The Kennedy Assassination. The Titanic. All those people. Dying. Screaming. There was nothing he could do.

He just watched.

The Time Lord Victorious.

The guilt gnawed at him like a hungry dog. Pressed down on him until it hurt to breathe. It hurt to move. It hurt to stand still. He was overcome with paranoia whenever he tried to leave the TARDIS. Everywhere he went, he could feel the people of all the time periods on all the planets staring at him, asking why he did it. Blaming him for all the deaths even though none of them would have any way of knowing what the Time War was, much less have any clue as to what the strange man in a leather jacket had to do with it.

So he stayed in the TARDIS; even though he knew that staying on his own would only make things worse. But the dark thoughts from the deepest recesses of his mind told him that he deserved it. That he should be punished.

That he should face his guilt.

The Doctor stood between the twin boulders, gazing into the black abyss that marked the mouth of the Labyrinth of Mercy. Patron Broodo's words were ringing through his ears.

 _You go into the Labyrinth to confess your sins. If the creature of the Labyrinth deems you innocent or... worthy of forgiveness, it'll lead you to the surface. If not, you'll never be seen again._

 _Win-Win_ , the Doctor thought. To him, it seemed a legitimate way of finding out if there was enough of 'the Doctor' left in him. If not… well…

The Doctor took a step, then another, and another. Going into the darkness and letting it swallow him whole.

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

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	4. Chapter 4

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 _ **Chapter Four**_

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As soon as he lost sight of the entrance, the Doctor regretted the decision. The darkness was smothering. Oppressive. It made the freezing air feel heavy and dulled his other senses like a thick woolen blanket. So much that even his elevated Time Lord senses were obscured, leaving him disoriented. For the first hundred yards or so, he used the small blue light of his sonic screwdriver to offer some form of light. But for some unknown reason, the light on it flickered and died.

The Doctor took a shaky breath in an attempt to steady his nerves. His vision was so impaired that he kept rubbing his face to make sure his eyes were actually open. The only sounds where of his own making; footfalls, labored breathing, hearts pounding in his ears. Even his time sense was altered and deemed unreliable, never mind his sense of direction.

The Time Lord shuttered with despair. What if the creature didn't come? How long could he survive down here?

He could go two months without water. Three or four without food.

He choked back a sob at the thought. Wandering around in an impossible labyrinth for a month. Death by mysterious creature was preferable.

 _What kind of being would choose this life?_ He wondered. _Is it alone, or are there more than one?_

Curiosity eased the Doctor's upwelling panic to some degree, so he focused on it. Because why? Where did it come from? How good were it's senses? Better than his, obviously, if it could successfully navigate the Labyrinth.

 _It's intelligent, too._ _Capable of at least some form of communication. Not actually capable of speech, though. Or maybe it is and just chooses not to. Using other people's voices… very intimidating._

The Doctor squared his shoulders and carried on, making sure to make a sufficient amount of noise. He coughed, shuffled his feet, and even whistled a tune that he couldn't remember the name of. _Venusian, probably_. Anything to draw attention to himself.

 _Like a fly in the spider's web_ , he mused.

Minutes passed. Or maybe it was hours. Or days. In all honesty, the Doctor really couldn't tell the difference. But eventually, he found himself tiring. Not that that was saying much; the stress of last few weeks had left the Time Lord teetering on the edges of his physical limits.

Exhausted, lost, and thoroughly beaten, the Doctor finally stopped. He slid down the icy stone wall into a sitting position, where he drew his knees to his chest and buried his head in his hands.

Stupid, stupid, stupid old man. Why was he even here, anyway? He'd been trying to tell himself that it was for the sake of discovery; he wanted to know what could possibly live down here and behave the way it did. That was a lie, and he knew it. Not knowing had admittedly been irritating, but he had been able to move on. So what did he want?

Want did anyone who came into the Labyrinth want?

To be forgiven.

Memories of the war came back in full force. Daleks screaming, children burning. The Moment. A big red button.

 _Well, you wanted a big red button._

The days he spent in his TARDIS afterward, staring at the scanners. Watching, waiting, hoping for the slightest sign of life. Proof that he wasn't the last one. But he was. All was silent.

That silence pressed down on him now more than ever.

He gave a humorless chuckle. The creature wanted to hear about guilt? He could give it guilt.

So he talked. The Doctor wasn't sure if anyone was listening, but he spoke out into the darkness. Everything that he did from the beginning of the Time War and from the moment he stopped being the Doctor was drawn out of him like pus from an infected wound. Every time he picked up a gun, lost a comrade, or turned his back on someone that needed him. Every moment he'd rather left forgotten fell unbidden from his lips. He talked until his voice was hoarse from strain and there was nothing more to tell; until he was raw as an open wound.

At last, when there was nothing left to say, the Last of the Time Lords fell silent. The Doctor listened to the last traces of his voice echoing through the tunnels and wrapped his leather jacket more snugly around him in an attempt to ward off the cold.

With no one around to see, he let the tears fall freely for the first time in years.

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

White hot fear flashed through him when a pair of cool hands covered his own.

The Doctor opened his mouth, but no words came out. The Time Lord strained his eyes frantically in a fruitless attempt to make out the shape of the being in front of him.

Grief forgotten in favor of curiosity, the Doctor cautiously turned his hands palms up so his fingers could carefully explore those of the unidentified creature. They were definitely hands. Cool, pliable flesh. Fingers. Five fingers, thumbs and all. Whatever it was allowed the Doctor to work his way up its wrists to feel strong, slender arms and a set of narrow shoulders.

"What are you?" He managed to ask. "Can you speak?"

The creature didn't respond, but ran its own hands up the Doctor's arms in a manner similar to how he had done. The hands settled on his shoulder briefly before moving to cup his face. The Doctor's hearts clenched when thumbs trailed over his cheeks, wiping away his tears.

" _The universe isn't done with you yet,_ " his own voice murmured back to him in such a way that the Doctor could hear it in his mind as much as he did with his ears.

A soft mouth pressed gently against his own. Although surprised, he didn't hesitate to lean into it, reveling in the intimacy that he'd been deprived of for so very long. It wasn't romantic or sexual in the slightest, but gentle and comforting. It made his muscles relax and his hearts slow down, relieving some of the pain that had been building up since the war began. Compassion shared between two lonely souls.

By the time the creature pulled away, he knew he had a long way to go before he stopped hurting completely, but for the first time in a very long time, he felt as if he could bear it. The Doctor knew that he could be the Doctor again.

The pair of hands settled on his again and pulled him to his feet. The Doctor hardly noticed that he was being led through the tunnels until he spotted a glimmer of sunlight far ahead. Now with the benefit of a meager form of light, he turned to look at his rescuer, but found the tunnel behind him empty.

The Doctor frowned, unable to consciously recall the moment the creature had released his hand.

 _It doesn't want to be found_ , the Doctor concluded wistfully. _Shame_.

"Thank you," he called softly into the darkness behind him. Then, shoulders squared, the Time Lord strode out into the sunlight.

A huge smile stretched across the Doctor's face when a warm breeze brushed against his cheeks. He turned his head up into the almost unnaturally blue sky and closed his eyes, soaking up the warm Glocnappenspa sun to chase away the chill that had set into his bones.

Then the Doctor set off up the hill, back to his TARDIS with a spring in his step, humming an upbeat song that hadn't been sung by anyone in over a thousand years.

The last thought the Doctor had before closing the TARDIS doors on Glocnappenspa was of the creature. Although he may not have discovered its true nature, he now knew the single most important thing about it.

 _The Creature of the Labyrinth is kind._

 ** _~0~0~0~_**

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 ** _~0~0~0~_**

Rose looked on with surprise when the TARDIS re-materialized in the exact spot it had been moments before.

The door creaked open and the Doctor poked his head back out.

"By the way, did I mention that it also travels in time?"

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **Chapter Five**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

The next time the Doctor looked out upon the town of North Swafburnfer on the little world Glocnappenspa, it was with a different face; one with soulful brown eyes and a terminally messy head of hair that somehow managed to look decent no matter what the universe threw at it. As soon as the cool breeze smacked him in the face with the promise of rain, the Doctor knew exactly where he was.

"Oi! Where are we?" Another voice complained from somewhere over his shoulder.

"Glocnppenspa!" The Time Lord proclaimed proudly, side stepping out of the doorway so his blonde companion could take a look.

"Glo… What?"

"GLOC-nappen-SPA!"

"Glocnappenspa!" Rose echoed, looking pleased with herself. "Not quite as bad a Raxacoricofallapatorious, is it?"

"Nah," the Doctor agreed, already strolling off down the muddy street with his hands shoved in his jacket pockets. "I came here once before, y'know… oh, not all that long ago…" The Doctor trailed off thoughtfully.

"Does that mean you want to leave?" Rose asked, glancing about the relatively human-looking town.

"Nah!" The Doctor brightened up again, mind evidently made up. "I didn't look around much last time. Helped a few locals out… and there was… Anyway, this is the lovely little town of North Swafburnfer…"

"North Swaf—"

"Swafburnfer," The Doctor repeated patiently, not bothering to look back over his shoulder as he continued ambling off down the road. "And tell you what, it must have been a few years since I was last here… or decades. Look." The Doctor nodded towards the holographic screens that lined the insides of the glass of the shop windows, advertising various products instead of placing the objects themselves on display.

The Doctor turned his attention upwards. "No power lines, either. Last time they had power lines. Must've moved on to something else; household matter-energy generators or site to site power transmission via energy beam or…"

"Doctor," Rose interrupted, eyes flickering about skeptically. "When you were here last time, was it this quiet?"

The Doctor blinked in mild surprise and swept his eyes along the streets more critically. He was forced to admit: Rose was right. The streets, while not having been necessarily crowded during his last visit, were now virtually absent of all signs of life.

"No… it wasn't."

He was about to come to the conclusion that the place had been abandoned altogether when he caught sight of a middle aged man exiting one of the shops. The appearance of a life form in the practically uninhabited town did nothing to dispel his concerns. In fact, they deepened as the Time Lord's old eyes observed the quick, slinking manner in which the man walked. Eyes darting side to side, slinking on his toes like a terminally anxious cat ready to dart at the slightest sign of danger, the man scampered down the street a bit and into another shop. The CLOSED sign was flipped with far too much energy and the blinds slid down over the storefront windows.

"What is he so frightened of?" Rose voiced the question the Doctor was turning over in his own mind.

He had his suspicions, but wasn't sure enough in them to draw them to the attention of his companion.

"No idea." He turned to face her with a rakish grin. "Care to find out?"

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

The Doctor remembered the town's layout fairly well, especially since it had expanded exponentially since the last time he'd walked its streets, leaking into the surrounding forest like a poorly contained spill.

The walk to Saint Stonpul was a short one, full of Rose pestering the Time Lord with questions about the nature of his last visit and the latter sidestepping them as gracefully as he did the puddles scattered along their way. Persistently damp world, Glocnappenspa was.

"Well," The Doctor mused, coming to an abrupt halt halfway up the hill to the Religious Building, "that definitely wasn't here before."

Rose stopped at his side and took in the sight. Down the hill, what had obviously once been dense forest was now a gutted, muddy pit. Large yellow machinery crawled around it like massive hulking insects, digging into the sludge and shoving heaps of mud three times the height of a man from one place to another. The pit itself was massive, practically expanding half of the mountain and into the valley below, surrounded by a vast quantity of chain-link fence that extended further up the mountain to encapsulate what had once been a church, now converted into a makeshift on-site office for the project.

"What are they building?" Rose asked, eyeing the workers ambling about with marginalized suspicion.

"Nothing," the Doctor muttered, stuffing down encroaching feelings of dread. "They're not building anything. They're mining."

"What for?"

"No idea," the Doctor said gruffly. "But 'what' isn't nearly as important as 'where'."

"Alright, then. Where?"

The Doctor didn't answer, just responding with a, "Come on," and starting up the hill towards the building.

They got past the guard at the gate with a flash of the psychic paper, slogging through the well-trampled mud and into what had once been the Worship Center for North Swafburnfer. Rose stopped to knock some of the mud off her boots before entering, but the Doctor strode straight in without a second thought, leaving Rose to catch up with him with a sigh.

By the time she did, the Time Lord had already introduced himself to whom Rose assumed was the Foreman.

Foreman Darrew was a round man. That was really the only word anyone really could think of to describe him physically. Round. Wide as he was tall, which wasn't saying very much, with a thick mustache and a permanent scowl with a personality to match. Not to mention that the prospect of two State investigators turning up at his doorstep didn't do much to improve that. Combine grouchiness with a general disposition of someone that dressed and acted like they belonged in a proper household in mid-nineteenth century England, and you had Darrew.

"I must say, a State investigation is completely unfounded," Darrew sputtered, face turning red with blood pressure. "We've received all the necessary permits, and the local complaints _have_ been looked into by the local law enforcement…"

"Ooh, they've got a local law enforcement now!" The Doctor beamed. "That's an improvement form last time."

"...and have been disproven in entirety," Darrew finished as if the Doctor hadn't spoken. "So an _investigation_ is nothing short of a inefficient waste of—"

"Mr. Darrew," The Doctor interrupted, working hard to keep from sounding impatient, "I understand that you are a very busy man with a schedule, but maybe if you could just give us a quick rundown of these _complaints_ , we could be on our way."

Darrew opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a woman poking her head in through the open door. With a bony red crest on her forehead, she was obviously _not_ of the same species normally found on Glocnappenspa, which caused the Doctor to raise an eyebrow in mild surprise. When was 'first contact' for this planet, again?

"Foreman," the woman announced in warbling tones, "Mister Actom Gravenn is here to see you."

Darrew groaned and rugged at his mustache stressfully. "Fine, send him in."

"Actom?" The Doctor echoed in bewilderment as a rather old man shuffled in the door.

Despite the toll time had clearly taken on him, Actom was still very clearly Actom in the Doctor's eyes. Something about the shape of his eyes and the spring in his step gave it away.

"Mr. Darrew," Actom huffed moodily, "in our last meeting, I left under the impression that if I _did_ leave, I would come back to the books I requested boxed and ready for delivery. It's been a week, and it's _obvious that no progress has been made_."

"Mr. Gravenn," Darrew growled, "my workers have enough work to do without catering to your face _whims_."

"Whims. _Whims?_ " Actom snapped back, voice raising with indignation. "The history of this community is not a _whim,_ sir! And if you don't comply, I'll just be back with a State issued _warrant_."

"Fine." Darrew waved a hand absently at the other two people in the room. "If you want to talk to the State, talk to them."

The Doctor, sensing an opportunity to get the information he was looking for from a more pleasant source as well as catch up with an old friend, bounced over to shake Actom's hand.

"Gladly! Books, you say? We'd be happy to help, wouldn't we, Rose?"

"Yeah, sure," Rose agreed with significantly less enthusiasm.

Actom squinted his old eyes at the overeager man in front of him. "Not to be rude, but you are…?"

"The Doctor," the Time Lord answered slowly, searching the man's wrinkled face for any sign of recognition. "You probably don't recognize me, but we've met before."

The lines on the old man's face deepened with thought. "I _did_ know a man that went by 'Doctor', but he would be very old now, and he certainly never looked anything like you."

"Oh, that was me!" The Doctor beamed. "I'm not from this planet, I can change my face."

It didn't take much to convince Actom that the Doctor was who he said he was. The old man was fairly trusting as it was, so once the Doctor explained his origins a little and recounted a few details from their last meeting, Actom was overjoyed to find that he did, in fact, know the man before him had returned.

"I'd always wondered what had happened to you," Actom admitted as he led them towards the back rooms of the old building, where they intended to box up more of Old Broodo's book collection, which had been left to Actom upon the Reverend's death. "Old Broodo said that you left town, but that was it."

The Doctor rugged at his ear sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that. Goodbyes aren't really my strongest point."

"The alien thing is a surprise though," Actom admitted, pulling out a set of keys to unlock the door to the storage room they'd stopped at. "You don't look like the others."

"Yeah, about that—" The Doctor sneezed loudly as soon as the door opened and he got a whiff of the scent of mold and dust. "—What's the story behind the other species? I wasn't aware you lot had had a first contact yet. How long's it been since I was last here, anyway?"

"'Bout sixty years." Actom picked up a book that had been left out and placed it in a box. "The Ablerrions came about twenty years ago. It was a huge mess at first, but everything settled out in the end." He gave an amused snort. "Bet we could rewrite the books with you, though, seeing as you were technically the first alien on this planet."

"Mm… better not," the Doctor hummed. "Stuff like that gets complicated quick. Right, so what're we doing here?"

Actom sighed. "Packing and moving books. Broodo left them to me, though I never paid them much attention until a few months back, just checked on them and made sure no water made its way in…"

"And then they started the mining?" Rose ventured a guess, joining the Doctor in putting together a few pamphlets into a stack.

Actom nodded. "The State sold the land to an Ablerrion-run company after Alpherdeinianite. Supposed t'be valuable for spaceships, or somethin'."

"It is," the Doctor acknowledged, pausing to sneeze again when Rose managed to stir up a cloud of dust. "Alpherdeinianite is for spatial distortions. Ships that go through certain types of nebula line their hulls with it. So they're ripping up the Labyrinth?"

"The place is riddled with the stuff." Actom nodded.

"Makes sense," the Doctor mused. "In large amounts, Alpherdeinianite is known interfere with electrical signals within the brain. Which would explain why people that go inside the tunnels get so disoriented. Really should've noticed that last time. Must be getting old."

"Aren't we all," Actom sighed ruefully. "But now that they own the land, I've been trying to get Broodo's collection out of the way before they destroy any of it. Hasn't been easy, either. Darrew would rather see it burned, but it's too much to move in any sort of hurry."

"Well, we've got some of it together now," Rose piped up when the Doctor started sneezing again. "Let's take what we've got and come back for more later, eh?"

Actom agreed and the three started off towards Actom's vehicle, each carrying a box. Actom's vehicle could almost be called a car, bright red with five wheels instead of four or six. They made three more trips to get more boxes to fill the available space before climbing inside themselves, Actom and the Doctor in the front, and a disgruntled Rose in the back, squeezed in amongst the boxes.

The Doctor peered around at the more or less empty streets with a critical eye.

"Where is everyone?" The Time Lord asked over the sound of the engine. "Much quieter than I remember."

"Scared," Actom grunted.

"Of what?" Rose inquired, leaning up between the two front seats.

"There's been a rash of murders. People going missing. The Police say they're looking into it." He laughed dryly. "But really, no one has a clue."

"Darrew said something about complaints," the Doctor pressed.

Actom hummed in acknowledgement. "That's 'cause it started around the time the mining started. Don't be fooled by the lack of religious interest, a lot of the people 'round here still believe that the Labyrinth is sacred, and that the Creature exists."

"What creature?" Rose asked, finally more interested now that the conversation had turned away from dusty books.

"Creature of the Labyrinth," the Doctor answered rather impatiently. "Really really old being that no one has ever seen. It lives down in the tunnels. Sometimes it leads people that get lost in there to the surface, or it doesn't."

"A lot of folks think that the deaths and disappearances have to do with it,"Actom confirmed dryly.

"How many?"

"Twelve. Eight disappearances. Four snapped necks."

Rose grimaced and the Doctor looked grim.

"Does sound a bit suspicious, though, doesn't it?" Rose mused. "And there aren't any other leads?"

"No," Actom sniffed curtly, turning into a long driveway. "Leave it for now through. We're here, and I don't want that kind of talk around my granddaughter."

"Aww, you've got a granddaughter?" The Doctor beamed. "Seems like only yesterday you were a child yourself."

"To you, maybe."

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **Responses to Reviews:**_

 ** _Little Dii -LD :_** _I actually considered doing that... but I decided that I had another idea for that part of the story. Thanks for reviewing!_

 ** _American Mayhem ; Soundwave's Cassette Store ; Kate Groat ; PrincessMagic :_** _I'm so so glad you guys are enjoying it!_

 ** _ThatBigBlueBox :_** _I'm in complete agreement with you about Nine. I love his version of the Doctor so much and love it when I find a fic about him that portrays him more than a grouch. Thanks for reading!_

 ** _Anon :_** _I'm glad you think I'm describing the creature well. It'll become extremely obvious as to what it is in the next few chapters. ;)_

 ** _Alix Winchester :_** _Yeah XD the first four chapter turned out differently than I originally intended, and I almost just left it as it was just because it managed to have sure a rounded ending. But people seem to be enjoying it, and I have more idea for it, so I figured that there was no harm in continuing!_

 ** _Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!_**


	6. Chapter 6

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 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **Chapter Six**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

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Actom's house, which was the remodeled version of what had once been the children's home, was well cushioned and homely, despite its extensive size. Most of the bedrooms and dormitories had been converted into a small library. That's what Actom was, a librarian.

On their way in, the Doctor had pestered the old man about his life. Much to the Doctor's pleasure, he'd married Hawee, and they'd had a daughter (as male Glocnappenspaians could give birth). Their daughter had died several years before, leaving them as the sole guardians of their young granddaughter.

"Grandad!" A waist high bundle of pink came careening around the corner into the kitchen, where Actom, the Doctor, and Rose were stacking boxes of books on the broad kitchen table.

"Hey, starstuff!" Actom beamed, old wrinkled face scrunching up comically. The little girl flung herself at her grandfather and latched onto his legs, standing on his feet so as to be as close to him as humanly possible. "Mina, say hello my friends, the Doctor and Rose."

Mina glanced up at them shyly, offered a little smile, and then buried her legs back into his legs.

"Hello, Mina," The Doctor grinned while Rose gave a small wave. "It's very, very nice to meet you."

"Why don't you go back and play, eh? Oh, and tell Gramps to come to the kitchen, will you?"

Mina scurried off, happy to be away from the strangers. A few minutes later, Hawee shuffled in. Obviously, he was very old, with a stiffness in his hips and knees that made it difficult for him to move.

Hawee's eyes narrowed. "Tom, who's this?"

Hawee wasn't nearly as easy to convince as Actom had been. Even after the Doctor had related their shared experiences from long ago, down to how Hawee had guided him to the tunnels, the old man still remained skeptical. With the his mate's assurances and Rose testifying that the Doctor could, in fact, change his face, Hawee eventually gave in, even though it was very plain that he was still doubtful.

"So, I take it you're here on account of the murders?" Hawee asked from his place seated at the heavy wooden table.

"Not really, no," the Doctor admitted. "We were just traveling, landed here by accident. Happy accident, though. It's lovely seeing you two, really." He hesitated. "Though I'll look into it though, now that I'm here. Love a mystery, me."

Hawee glared down his crooked nose at the Time Lord. "Hardly something to look forward to."

The Doctor coughed awkwardly. "Ah... well… anyway. What do you know about what's been going on?"

"He knows a good bit," Actom interjected. "He used to work for the police force, still has connections, and all that."

"Thank you, _Actom_ ," Hawee snipped, not at all happy at having personal information shared without his permission. He turned back to the Doctor. "Though, he's right, I suppose. The boys at the station _have_ been keeping me updated. I was chief inspector there for an odd twenty five years."

"Brilliant. Start from the beginning." The Doctor yanked out one of the old wooden chairs, spun it around in front of him and plopped down, his chin resting on the backrest.

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

Twelve victims. Eight disappearances. Four snapped necks.

The first victim had been a worker at the mining compound, a week after they broke ground. Around dusk, other workers heard him cry out for help, but the time they got there, he was nowhere to be seen.

The second was operating one of the excavators. No one knew anything was wrong until the giant yellow machine had begun idling freely down the mountain side, nearly crushing workers and destroying fences. It's destructive course had been abruptly halted by another massive machine whose driver had been unable to move out of the way in time. They then found the driver of the runaway machine slumped across the controls, head twisted around so it faced backward on his shoulders.

Numbers three, four, and five were also at the excavation site. Three vanished into thin air. Four's corpse was found facedown in the mud the next morning. Five was dead in an office, all the locks broken from the outside by something powerful enough that it had been able to twist the door's steel frame in order to get at the person inside.

Before six, the police had only been investigating the site, and had closed it down to interrogate everyone that worked there. Then, a woman was found dead at the center of town, blank eyes reflecting the night sky.

Since then, six more people had gone missing. People nearby would hear calls for help, but they always vanished without the slightest trace. They had all vanished at night, so the town had enacted a curfew at dusk, through it did nothing to soothe the citizens' fears.

Because how could you protect yourself from a killer that left no trace?

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

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 _ **~0~0~0~**_

"The locals are going mental, talking about a ghost coming out to avenge the holy site, or something to that extent," Foreman Darrew sniffed airily, twirling a smoking cigar, clouding the air with blue smoke.

Foreman Darrew was in a bad mood, and, from his perspective at least, it was justified. The strange tall man that claimed to come from the State was back, and he was currently perched in Darrew's cushioned chair, muddy feet resting on his desk. He was accompanied by the same blonde that had been been with him as before. Actom wasn't with them, thankfully.

"Really? Ghosts?" Rose asked, eyes bright and curious.

"Of course not!" Darrew snapped, more rudely than intended. He composed himself quickly. "It's a cover story, trying to cover up the work of a fanatic."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Foreman," the Doctor said with a disapproving quirk of an eyebrow.

"Don't be ridiculous. There is nothing living in the site!" Darrew snapped, temper flaring once more.

"Except there is. Or was. There was something in the tunnels that had been there for longer than anyone can remember."

"Really, Doctor," the Foreman scoffed, scowling as a glob of mud dripped off one of the Doctor's shoes and onto a thin stack of papers. "Surely you don't believe in ghosts?"

"Not ghosts, no," the Doctor mused, squinting at the ceiling. "But there _was_ something down there. An ancient creature. Very very old and very very dangerous. And now, Foreman Darrew, you've flushed it out." He stood quickly and began to pace, scratching his head. "If I could just work out what it is, then we'd stand a chance at finding it."

"You want to _find_ it?" Darrew shook his head in disapproval.

"Course we want to find it!" Rose quipped with a wolfish grin. "Why else would we be asking?"

"Why do you people do anything? I've given up asking." Darrew sighed and reclaimed his desk, producing a kerchief and making a futile attempt at cleaning the mud away. It only smeared. "Are you done here, Doctor? Or is there anything else you need that would prolong your presence here, annoying me?"

The Doctor stopped pacing and leaned back against the desk, trapping a paper that Darrew was trying to move, keeping it pinned to the desk. "Don't know. What I _need_ is more information. What it looks like, what it's doing with the people that are disappearing… or _anything_ , really."

"Would it help," Darrew said moodily, still trying to free the paper, "if I assigned some workers to move your _stupid bloody books_ away from here?"

The Doctor smiled, a sly gleam in his eyes. "Yes! It would, actually. Lots of information about the tunnels in those books. I didn't find anything last time, but I wasn't exactly thorough, either."

"Why not?" Rose asked amusedly. "That doesn't sound like you. Leaving a mystery unsolved."

The Doctor shrugged. "Wasn't at my best."

"Cos you normally would've charged into those tunnels first thing."

The Doctor stiffened. He hid it by turning back to Darrew. "Movers, yeah? Quick as you like. I want to have some idea of what we're up against before dark."

"Why by then?" Darrew asked, though he really didn't care about the answer.

"Because that's when we go looking for it, of course."

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

Both Actom and Hawee were _thrilled_ when the big seven wheeled cargo truck came rolling up their driveway bearing all the books they had been begging the mining company for over the last few were even more thrilled when a handful of workers unloaded the thing for them, sparing their old bones of the labor. Within ten minutes, the front book room was crowded with boxes, all laid out and ready to be sorted through.

"I don't know how you did it, Doctor," Actom praised, shaking the Time Lord's hand heartily. "I've been pestering that puffed up swine for _ages_. So how come you manage it in an hour?"

The Doctor winked. "Just my charm and good looks, I suppose."

Actom snorted. "Well, whatever it was, we are truly in your debt."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Oh, do you have something in mind?"

"The books. I need help sorting through them for any information about the creature."

"Consider it done."

And Actom and Hawee did as they promised. Hours later, the four were seated in various positions around the room, all buried by piles and piles of books. By the time the sun had begun to sink to the edge of the horizon, they all were extremely frustrated.

The Doctor sighed and rubbed his eyes, which were watering from the sheer number of times he had sneezed over the course of the afternoon. Whatever allergens where wafting off the musty pages, he was allergic to. The Time Lord closed his book, stood, and stretched.

Rose saw that as an excuse to do the same. Within a second, she was on her feet and at the Doctor's side, gazing up at him expectantly. "We're going, yeah? You said that we'd look for it at dark."

The Doctor managed to look disapproving even though he was just as eager to get out of the house and do something as his young companion was. "Probably not a good idea. We've still got no idea what we're up against."

Rose gave him a cheeky smile, her tongue poking out between her teeth.

The corners of the Doctor's mouth quirked up as well. Obviously they were going anyway. "Well, can't exactly let it continue wandering about, harassing the neighborhood, can we?"

Hawee shook his head in disapproval. "You treat this whole affair like a joke, Doctor. It's going to get you… or the _both_ of you, killed."

Rose looped her arm through the Doctor's, still grinning. "Don't worry, we do this all the time."

"Luck runs out." The old man studied Rose through tired eyes. "You're just a bit younger than my daughter was the last time I saw her. All fire and recklessness. It makes you think that you're untouchable. That's what got her killed. And as a parent, let me tell you, you're not."

Rose opened her mouth to respond, but Hawee shook his head to silence her.

"At least take an officer with you. I've called the station, they're sending someone here to escort you two. At least it's something, but I doubt it's enough."

"We'll wait for him," the Doctor promised, giving Rose's arm a reassuring squeeze. The blonde girl had gone pale, perhaps thinking of Jackie.

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

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* * *

 _ **Special Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It means a lot to me to hear back!**_

 _ **This chapter was originally longer, but I hadn't finished it yet and I wanted to update. Theoretically, more should be posted within the week. But don't hold me to it. I have 5 fics going right now and another one that I've started on but haven't started posting for it.**_

 _ **As for the creature, y'all can probably guess what it is pretty easily. I'm not exactly hiding what it is, but I jut haven't mentioned it directly yet. Hopefully I'll get to the reveal in the next chapter.**_

 _ **Thanks for reading! ~M**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **Chapter Seven**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

The police officer arrived in a five wheeled car just as the last rays of sunlight began to fade. Her name was Officer Prekdawnik-Ska, and she was an unpleasant looking Ablerrion. Every detail, from the way her red crest caused her brow to furrow to the large blaster that hung from her belt was angled to make her appear intimidating.

She wasn't very pleasantly mannered, either. From what the Doctor could gather from her one or two word responses, Ska thought that the whole idea was stupid, dangerous, and a waste of time. Ska had drawn the short straw, and would rather be anywhere other than chaperoning two tourists around town after dark. The police had scoured the town from top to bottom for weeks, and she had never seen anything. In her opinion, there was no chance that the killer would show his face to more than one person, which rendered this particular excursion pointless.

But despite her distaste for the assignment and the Doctor's mild irritation at the officer's sidearm, the three piled into the five wheeled cruiser and set off into the night.

"Where are we going?" Rose inquired, unhappy and feeling a bit excluded in her place in the back seat.

"Where the last disappearance took place," the Doctor stated confidently before turning to Officer Ska. "Where is that, again?"

"Moroldford Corner," the grouchy alien grunted.

"Moroldford Corner," the Time Lord repeated to his blonde friend as if she hadn't been able to hear.

"Yeah. I'm not deaf, right?" Rose retorted.

"Right. Sorry."

"What's Moroldford Corner, anyway?"

"Care to answer that, Officer?" The Doctor diverted.

The alien sighed. "Oldest part of town. Abandoned for decades. Run down buildings. Trees. Glocnappenspaian graves. Not much, really."

"Why was it abandoned?" Rose asked.

"Landscape changed. Now everytime it rains, the place floods."

"So what was the person that disappeared doing there?"

"Dunno." Ska rolled her broad shoulders carelessly. "Exploring, probably. Their species usually enjoys that sort of thing."

The cruiser whipped around a corner and skidded to a stop. The trio unbuckled and slipped out into the cool night air.

"Alberrions don't, I take it?" The Doctor inquired, closing the car door and taking a few steps away from it, unkempt grass and mud squelching under his feet.

"No," Ska snapped, sounding almost offended at the notion. "We're practical. They're not. No wonder it took so long for them to advance."

The Doctor produced a flashlight from one of his many coat pockets. "What d'you mean?"

Ska pulled her own light, a bright orb-shaped lantern, from her belt. She activated it with a twist and a shake. "Their species has existed for nearly… a million years? They're old. Should be advanced. But they've only had what can be called a complex society for around sixteen hundred. Hell, they didn't even have a written language until nine-hundred years ago."

"Don't think very much of them, do you?" Rose concluded, keeping close to the Doctor.

"No, I don't."

They were at the top of a slope, looking down into a wide valley. Through the darkness, the Doctor could just make out the shapes of crumbling stone buildings being eaten away by woodland to the left. Large mossy trees with dense foliage were scattered in clumps throughout what had clearly once been clean-cut, but now in the process of being reclaimed by nature. The small moon and stars were only visible in brief spurts due to the patches of heavy clouds beginning to creep across the sky.

To the right of the slope, separated from the town by a small clearing was a very, very old forest. In Glocnappenspaian culture, they marked graves using saplings with a granite headstone at the base. The very old cemeteries, like the one in Moroldford Corner, were distinguished by gnarled, monolithic trees that stood dozen of feet high, with hundreds of headstones poking out from within.

"Rain soon," the Doctor commented, beginning to pick a path down the hill and towards the abandoned buildings.

"Obviously. It's always raining on this damn planet."

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

By the time it began to rain, the trio had been in Moroldford Corner for over an hour, and they hadn't had the slightest bit of luck. No monsters. No murderers. No kidnappers. Not the slightest thing to suggest anything was amiss, despite the place just being plain creepy. But it was an abandoned town-graveyard combo on a dark, stormy night, so a certain degree of creepiness was expected.

For Rose, however, it was just plain fun. She'd always loved haunted houses, graveyards, and horror movies. She loved the thrill, the feeling of her blood pumping and goosebumps forming on her skin, almost as much as she loved making other people be frightened with her. Historically, this other person was Mickey, who absolutely hated anything remotely frightening, no matter how much he insisted otherwise.

After nearly an hour of wandering about and nothing to show for it, Rose suggested that they split up. Several times. Despite being abandoned, Moroldford Corner was big. As the weather moved in brandishing the threat of flooding the valley, it made sense to cover as much ground as possible.

Eventually, despite repeatedly stating that they were safest as a group, the Doctor was forced to agree. He wanted a chance to check the far side, anyhow. At their current rate, it could be hours before they covered the entire Corner, and the lowest parts of the town could be underwater by then. He would go to the edge of the ruins alone, as it would be faster, and work his way back to meet the other two. The Time Lord's parting words were to insist that Rose stay with Officer Ska.

Rose promised, and the Doctor set off.

Ska, however, still wasn't nearly as concerned as the Doctor was. She still didn't think that the killer, if he or she had ever _been_ in this section of town, certainly wouldn't hang around the scene of the crime. With this in mind, the Officer didn't worry too much when the young blonde drifted away to explore on her own.

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

Rose's trainers scarcely made a sound on the dusty stone floor. She was investigating one of the houses that was situated at the edge of the clearing, directly across from the overgrown cemetery. While many of the structures that were left in Moroldford Corner were on the point of collapse, slowly being sucked underground by the never-ending floodwaters, this particular house had remained untouched, more or less. It was located higher up the slope than the rest of the village, and therefore better preserved. Broken down and forgotten furniture still slumped in the corners, and panes of extremely dirty glass remained in the windows. Most importantly, it still had most of its roof.

Rose pulled down the hood of her jacket and wiped water droplets from arms, beginning to share Ska's sentiments about the climate of this particular planet. A storm was rolling in. The young blonde had been listening to the distant peals of thunder and far away flashes of lightning, counting the seconds between the two in order to determine how far away the worst of the weather was. Unfortunately, it was getting closer, and she'd yet to hear back from the Doctor, who was presumably still on the opposite side of the Corner.

Trying to ignore how damp she was, Rose shivered slightly against a chill and held the small lantern Ska had given her near her hip. It was dim and didn't do much good, but was enough to prevent the blonde from tripping over anything. She could just make out the lumps of stone strewn across the floor, chunks of the ceiling that had collapsed over time.

She picked her way gingerly across the front room to the window. It was far too dark to see anything out of it. She held her orb up to the glass, but it only illuminated the several decades worth of dirt and dust that had collected on either side.

Lightning lit up the night sky, allowing the young woman to have an unobscured view across the small clearing and into the crumbling forest-graveyard beyond.

Rose turned away, directing her attention to the warped remains of a desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the window light up once more.

She stiffened.

It had only been for an instant, but she could have sworn that a shadow had been cast across the decrepit room.

An inkling of fear flickered in her heart, putting her every nerve on alert. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She strained her eyes against the darkness, waiting for the next flash of light with bated breath.

Lightning flashed once more, illuminating the outside world.

Her blood froze.

There was a shape in the window. A person. Broad and tall. Staring in at her through the cracked glass.

Rose gave a strangled cry of shock and tried to back away. Her heel snagged on a lump of rubble, twisting it painfully and sending her crashing to the floor. She banged the back of her head, causing her vision to swim. She immediately tried to regain her footing, but was only able to make it back to her knees. Rose frantically tried to see the creature in the darkness, tried to see if it would try to come inside.

Lightning flashed again. The shape was gone. It had moved.

Coming to _get_ her, Rose thought.

"Doctor!" She shouted as loudly as she could, her own voice straining her throat. " _Doctor!_ "

"Rose!" The Doctor called back, but he sounded far away.

Rose scrambled for her orb, which had rolled across the room when she fell. Her hand made contact with it a second before a pair of powerful hands grabbed her roughly by the shoulders.

A small scream tore from her, which ended when she spun around and found herself staring up into Officer Ska's scowling face.

"What's wrong?" Ska demanded.

"Was that you?" Rose snapped, concealing her fright with anger. "What kind of police work is that? Scaring the life out of people. Very funny. Do you get off on it?"

"What are you talking about?" The Alberrion retorted, ridged brow furrowing deeper in confusion.

"That wasn't you?"

"Wasn't me _where_?"

"Outside, looking in that window there."

The Officer studied the widow in question for a moment, then shook her head. "Couldn't have been. I came around the back."

They stared at each other, both registering the implications.

"There's something out there!" Rose whispered, gazing back at the window with reignited dread.

Officer Ska's hand flew to her weapon. She unholstered it and held it at the ready.

"Stay here," the Alberrion instructed, whirling around to head back out the way she came.

"You can't shoot it!" Rose argued, trying to follow. Her ankle twinged in protest, causing her to wince.

Misunderstanding, Ska laughed. "This baby can blow a hole in a Asteroid-proof shuttle craft. One Glocnappenspaian psychopath is nothing!"

With that, she vanished into the night.

"You can't! Don't-" Rose called, but her plea fell on deaf ears.

A few seconds later, the sound of running footsteps intermixed with that of the rain pelting the increasingly muddy ground. Puddles were spreading across the valley, merging together and deepening as the already soaked earth refused to absorb a single drop more.

"Rose?" The Doctor called, sounding worried and slightly out of breath. "Rose!"

"Here!" Rose limped to the doorway that Ska had vanished through moments before.

"What happened?" The Doctor came sprinting into view, completely soaked. He skidded to a halt a few feet in front of her, immediately reaching out to support her upon seeing she was limping.

She took his arm gratefully, using him as a crutch. "I think I saw it."

The Doctor turned to face her, hair scattering water droplets across her head. "What does it look like?"

"I dunno. It was just for a moment. Sort of human, I guess."

A manic smile spread across the Time Lord's face. He laughed. "Congratulations, Rose Tyler. You're the only living person that has actually _seen_ the Adjudicator and lived to tell the tale."

Rose couldn't help but share in his excitement. She grinned until the Doctor turned serious.

"Why are you hurt?" He demanded.

"Tripped."

"Where's Ska?"

"She went after it."

The Doctor groaned. "That's Alberrions, for you. Gung-ho. Shoot first, ask questions later."

Rose nodded urgently. "She's got a gun. Said it could destroy a space shuttle, or somethin'."

"We've got to stop her. If she shoots at it, it could ruin our chances at making peace with it."

"It won't want to talk," Rose summarized.

"Exactly—"

The Doctor was interrupted by Officer Ska shouting frantically from somewhere in the trees within the cemetery. Her voice was indistinct and panicky. The sound of an energy blast sliced through the sounds of rain and thunder. And another. And another.

"Or she could get herself killed first." The Doctor leaned Rose against the house. "Stay here!"

The Time Lord hurried back out into the storm, sloshing in the ankle deep water, ignoring the wind that buffeted him as he ran.

"Officer Ska!"

The Doctor scoured the woods, dodging headstones and ducking around trees. The sounds of the firing blaster were much closer now. He caught a glimpse of the final shot through the trees, heard Ska's frightened shout.

The Time Lord slowed down, senses on high alert for the smallest movement or sound through the rainfall.

"Ska?" He called again. "Are you there?"

A small light caught his eye. Round and fairly bright, but half submerged in the bog. He picked it up carefully, brushing away the mud and leaves caked to it. Ska's lantern.

"Ska?"

He walked on, looking for the slightest sign of the missing alien, desperately hoping not to stumble upon her lifeless body. The sounds of the storm were muffled, the massive umbrella-like trees keeping out the worst of the rain and absorbing sound with the carpets of moss covering their trunks. The Doctor held his breath and listened to raindrops thundering against the canopy high above his head. All else was silent.

"Hello?" The Doctor called out into the trees, this time addressing the creature, which he presumed was still close-by. "I'm the Doctor. I believe we've met before. This doesn't have to keep happening!"

He listened intently for a moment before continuing. "I can help you! Believe me, I can. But you have to tell me what you've done with Ska. Officer Ska, the shooty one. I know she comes on a bit strong, but…"

The Doctor stilled, staring at a headstone. It was shaped differently than the others. Larger, but not crafted with nearly as much care. The name was barely legible, a date scrawled beneath it, indicating the person buried underneath had died some four hundred years prior to the current year.

Sadness and frustration weighed down on the Time Lord's old heart, so much that he didn't bother looking up at Rose until she had managed to limp through the trees and up to his side.

"I told you to stay at the house," The Doctor complained, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen," Rose scoffed. She leaned against the headstone for support. "Where's Ska?"

"Gone," The Doctor concluded grimly.

"Gone where?" Rose demanded, eyes wide.

The Doctor didn't answer directly, just nodded to the headstone she was leaning on. "Ska said that this was a Glocnappenspaian cemetery. Makes sense. They stopped burying people here nearly fifty years ago. The Alberrions didn't arrive on this world until thirty years after."

Rose stared at the stone. Not quite getting it. "So?"

"Not really a Glocnappenspaian name, is it?"

The headstone read: **P. Ska**

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

* * *

 _ **I said I would update quickly, didn't I?**_

 _ **Like I've said before, it's pretty obvious what the creature is. I'm not hiding its species, but I'm not going to say it, either. By this point, I'm focusing more on its origin and how the Doctor handles it, which is what the next chapter will start to address.**_

 _ **Originally, I had planned for this chapter and the next chapter to be one long chapter, but then I realized that I have TWO exams next week, so I decided to go ahead and post what I had.**_

 _ **Next chapter will probably be up by the end of next week, or part way into the week after next. Maybe sooner if I find the time and motivation, but no promises. The week after next is Spring Break, so I hoping I'll be able to get some quality writing in. But once again, no promises.**_

 _ **I didn't spend much time editing, so don't be afraid to yell at me if you catch something.**_

 _ **Thanks for reading! Don't forget to comment!**_

 _ **~M**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **Chapter Eight**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

The Doctor sat at Hawee and Actom's kitchen table with a face like thunder, hands folded before him. Brooding. Rose sat opposite to him, nursing a mug of tea that was an odd shade of red. She took a cautious sip. It tasted sweet on her tongue. Like honeysuckle.

Hawee stood nearby, conversing on the phone in hushed tones with someone at the police station. Actom was upstairs, getting Mina ready for bed.

The police hadn't taken Ska's disappearance lightly. The Doctor had explained what had happened to Hawee, who was inclined to believe him. Unfortunately, the police weren't convinced. It was only Hawee's interference that prevented the pair of travelers from being arrested and questioned.

Hawee hung up the phone and rubbed his face tiredly.

"They've got three units scouring the Corner," he said, voice low and weary. "They haven't found anything."

"I told you. They won't." The Doctor commandeered Rose's tea and took a gulp.

"Probably not. It's consistent with the other disappearances." Hawee came over to lean against the table between the pair. "But you said you saw it?"

Rose shrugged, trying to snatch the mug back from the Time Lord. "Not really. Just a sort of shadow."

"And you, Doctor…" The man in question looked up sheepishly from where he had been fending off his companion. "You talk about it like you know who's behind it."

The Doctor lost the battle for the mug. He settled back into his chair and scrubbed at his face. "What it does… what it did to Ska… I've seen that before…"

"What is it? Is it an alien?" Rose inquired over her hard-won tea.

The Doctor ignored her questions, lost in his own mind. "But it's not acting like any I've seen before. The Adjudicator… in the tunnels… it _spoke_ … if I could just figure out what it wants..."

The Time Lord let out a frustrated sigh while Rose stifled a yawn. Hawee began collecting the books that were still scattered about from their earlier search and stacking them neatly in a corner.

"Well, it's late. There's no use in puzzling it out tonight," Hawee reasoned. He indicated the ceiling. "We've several guest rooms that you're welcome to, if you've nowhere else to stay."

"That'd be lovely, thanks." Rose downed the rest of her tea and stood, grabbing the Doctor by the hand and dragging him up from the table as she went.

Hawee nodded and gave them the directions to the stairs, and then to the guest rooms. Rose half-listened to his instructions on toiletries and showers before leading the way upstairs.

On the second floor, they passed Mina's room. The door was white and covered with a scattered assortment of stickers. Mina's work, no doubt. The door had been left ajar, and through it filtered the warm light of the flower shaped lamp on the bedside table.

Rose pressed on to the rooms beyond, eager to choose her room. She claimed the one with pale coral walls and burgundy blankets for her own, and assigned the one that mostly consisted of varying shades of blue to the Doctor, feeling a little proud of having made the connection between the dark blue sheets and the distinct tint of the TARDIS.

She turned to remark on this to the Doctor, only to see that he'd stopped to linger in the doorway of Mina's room. Rose padded up to her friend and peered around his shoulder to see what had caught his attention.

Mina was tucked securely into bed, propped up on a small mountain of pillows, a cat-like stuffed animal with saber tooth-like fangs curling on either side of its jaws. Actom sat perched in a low chair beside the bed with a book splayed out in his lap.

Actom paused mid sentence, suddenly seeming to realize that his audience had grown. Now that he'd been acknowledged, the Doctor edged further into the room, reluctantly followed by Rose.

"Interesting story," the Doctor began, sliding in to sit at the edge of the bed beside Actom. "What's it about?"

Actom nodded encouragingly to Mina, who half-hid her face with her blanket. The grandfather smiled fondly at the shy child.

"One of our fairy tales," Actom explained. He indicated a short wooden bookcase on the adjacent wall, which was stuffed full of equally colorful children's books. "We have quite a lot of them."

The Doctor extended his hand for the book. He glanced through it briefly before passing it off to Rose.

"Why haven't they got any words?" Rose inquired, flipping through the colorful pages with mild confusion. "It's all just pictures?"

"Most of the classics are never written down," Actom explained, watching as the Doctor pulled a few more books from the shelf.

"But how can you read a book without words?"

"Don't need them. We all know our stories. The books are only full of art to help our children imagine the scenes. Every parent already has the whole thing memorized, and our children will learn them from us."

"Remember what Ska said? This lot has been around for nearly a million years, but they only developed a written language less than a thousand years ago," the Doctor added, pulling out his specs and balancing them on his nose so he could examine the book he was flipping through more closely.

"What about all those books we went through today?"

"Those are more recent," Actom said. "Those were written over the last thousand years. Historical records, accounts, and things. These stories are much older."

"Glocnappenspa has a very rich oral and art history." The Doctor held up one of the colorful pages for emphasis. "Most of the stories haven't been written down. I was so busy looking at the written history that I completely overlooked the richest part. _That's_ why we never found anything! The Adjudicator predates all of the written history! We've got to go back further."

Rose furrowed her pretty brow. "I thought he said those stories were just fairytales?"

"Oh, but where do fairytales come from?" The Doctor said, grinning widely. "Every story's based on something, one way or another. Besides, on a world as old as this one, real history is bound to get mixed up with made up ones."

Actom nodded. "There is a lot of debate on the matter. Some people want to recognize the oral stories as factual history, but others say it's unreliable."

"That's where we start, then," the Doctor declared. He flopped back on the edge of Mina's bed. "Actom, me old mate. How d'you feel about a story marathon? I'd bet I know someone else who'd love it." He winked at Mina, who giggled behind her blanket, finally starting to warm up to the strange guest.

They were shortly joined by Hawee, and three more chairs were drawn into Mina's room. The Doctor and Rose listened intently to Hawee and Actom as they told story after story, continuing long after Mina had fallen asleep.

In the midst of about fifty other stories, there was one that drew the Time Lord's attention the most: The Unseen Woman.

 _ **.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _Once, many lifetimes ago, there was a woman who could never be looked upon by living eyes._

 _The Unseen Woman lived alone in the deepest parts of the forest, far from the old towns and farms, where she could live in peace away from eyes that might look upon her. It was a lonely life, but she was immortal, and was no longer bothered by it. Her family had moved to other forests long ago, but she found peace in watching her forest age, die, and be born again around her. She was happy._

 _But as time passed, the towns grew and spread. Pioneers saw the richness of the Unseen Woman's forest and built their houses there. After living alone for so long, the woman was angry. She could no longer live without fear of being seen; could no longer tend to her forest without hindrance. Unfortunately, she was far too attached to the land to leave, so she stayed in the shadows and watched the lives of the newcomers from a distance._

 _More settlers joined and a town grew within the heart of the woman's forest. But after watching the people of the town for a number of years, she was no longer angry. For she had grown enamored with their lives and had begun lurking closer and closer to their houses, to warmth and companionship, wishing to join them. But she didn't dare risk being seen, and found herself lonelier than ever._

 _One night, while the woman lay hidden in a family's garden, a young girl came out of the house. The girl was the daughter of a wealthy and powerful man, and lived a comfortable life. Despite her family's prosperity, the girl was lonely. The other families in the town feared the girl's father, and so the children in the town refused to play with her._

 _While in the garden, the girl began to cry. The Unseen Woman watched for a time, uncertain what to do. She sympathized with her loneliness, as she was lonely too. The Unseen Woman dared to speak with the girl, though it was the first time she'd spoken to anyone in many lifetimes._

 _They became friends. Every night, the girl would sneak out to the garden and they would talk through the cover of the leaves. As the years passed, the woman grew to trust the girl and would even come out from behind the trees - so long as the girl promised to keep her eyes closed._

 _Years later, the girl had grown into a beautiful young woman. Despite the fact that suitors traveled from far lands to court her, she refused to marry. She had fallen in love with the Unseen Woman, who had been her closest friend since childhood._

 _She turned suitor after suitor away. Ignorant to his daughter's reasoning, her father became angry, and chose a husband for her. Her intended was a wealthy merchant, a handsome yet shrewd man. She begged and pleaded for the wedding to not take place, but her father had already promised her hand to the merchant's family, and she could only be released if her intended's family agreed._

 _She went to her future husband to plead her cause. They argued. Her intended demanded her reason, and she revealed to him that she loved another. The Merchant reacted with jealousy. He refused to call off the wedding,_

 _She met with the Unseen Woman that night in the woods at the edge of the town, and tearfully told her that she was being forced to marry someone she didn't love. The young woman proposed that the pair run away to find their own life, to live away from other people so they could be together in peace._

 _The Unseen Woman loved the young woman very dearly, but refused. She was immortal, whereas the young woman was not, and understood that her young lover would not be happy living amongst the trees, married to someone she couldn't look upon._

 _Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a frightened shout. The Merchant had followed the young woman, and had laid eyes upon the Unseen Woman. He was horrified by what he saw, and ran._

 _The Unseen Woman pursued, intending to kill the Merchant, but was stopped by her lover, who was more tender-hearted._

 _The Merchant ran into the town and told the people about the Unseen Woman, framing her as a monster. The townsfolk took up arms, and went into the night to find her and kill her._

 _But the Unseen Woman was powerful. The battle was fearsome. Many townsfolk died by her hands. Battered and ashamed by defeat, the townsfolk turned on the young woman. They accused her of conspiring with the Unseen Woman, and put her to death._

 _The Unseen Woman blamed herself for the young woman's death, reasoning that she would have lived a normal life if the Unseen Woman had only kept to herself. Stricken with guilt, the Unseen Woman fled the forest she'd spent so many centuries, determined to find a place where no one could lay eyes on her again._

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

"Sad ending," Rose complained. "Most of our stories have happy endings."

"Just the Disney versions," the Doctor chided. "Ever heard of the Brothers Grimm?"

"But isn't it just a fairy tale?" Rose asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "It didn't actually happen, did it?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But it's too much of a coincidence - the Adjudicator, the Unseen Woman - to ignore."

Hawee shook his head. "I'm not sure I see the connection."

"Think about it. A killer that no one has seen -"

" _I_ saw it," Rose interrupted. "And so did Ska."

"Unseen doesn't mean invisible," the Doctor pointed out. "Could mean that it just doesn't _want_ to be seen."

"The story said that the Merchant thought she was a monster," Actom added.

The Doctor nodded, a flicker of sadness darkening his gaze. "No one wants that." He shook himself briskly. "Think about it. If you were a creature that could never be looked upon, where would you go?"

"Someplace I couldn't be seen." Rose's eyes brightened with understanding. "The tunnels."

"Exactly."

"So what now?"

The Doctor settled back. His mind was turning, wide awake and trying to puzzle in the story with what he already knew. He was about to suggest another search party, but paused when Rose yawned again. All three companions were staring at him with bleary eyes, and Mina had given up hours ago.

He sighed. "Sleep. We'll pick it up again in the morning."

Rose sighed with relief, a sentiment that was echoed by Hawee and Actom. The little group shuffled out of Mina's room, stretching out cramps and scrubbing fuzzy eyes. The two Glocnappenspaians and the human retired to their respective bedrooms, leaving the Time Lord to his own devices.

The Doctor considered resting in the other spare room, but found the thought of sleep unappealing. Instead, he wandered back downstairs to the kitchen, wondering if he could track down more of the delicious tea.

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

The Doctor sat at the kitchen table, nursing his third cup of tea and flicking idly through one of Mina's storybooks, trying to imagine the story behind the art that bled from one page to the next.

The house was quiet and still. Dust motes floated through the air, captured by the light over the Time Lord's head. Time in the house seemed to be dampened by a sleepy blanket. Ancient. Tranquil.

It would be morning soon. It would take a keen eye to notice that the sky had begun to lighten, but the stars were slowly beginning to blink out of sight, one by one as dawn drew nearer.

A cricket chirruped just outside the kitchen window.

The Doctor turned a page.

A bloodcurdling scream shattered the atmosphere. High pitched with blind panic. Desperate. _Familiar._

The Doctor sprang to his feet, his blood turning to ice. He could recognize that voice anywhere.

Another scream sent the Doctor careening out of the house and into the darkness of the yard.

"Rose!" He shouted, staring frantically into the night, trying to get a bearing on the direction of the cry. "Rose?"

" _Doctor!"_ It came from the trees. Her voice was full of pain and fear in a primal sort of way that the Doctor had never heard from her before. "Doctor! _Doctor!_ "

He didn't hesitate to sprint for the trees surrounding the house, not bothering to question the logic of his actions, made reckless by desperation.

" _Help me_!"

The forest was ancient, midnight dark and dripping from the recent rain. Mud squelched under his feet as he skidded a few yards into the trees.

"Rose?" He asked the darkness. "Where are you?"

"Doctor?" Rose's voice answered him, but it didn't come from the trees. Her voice was full of worry, but not the kind of fantic horror he'd heard moments before.

The Doctor turned back to the house, equal parts horrified and relieved to see her standing on the front porch, flanked by Hawee and Actom, all three framed by the warm lights of the house.

Understanding settled into his gut. The Doctor turned back into the darkness. He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin.

"If you wanted to kill me, you could've done that at the Corner," the Doctor said, sliding his hands into his pockets. "But you didn't. And here we are again."

The air shifted through the trees, as if the forest were sighing.

"When I realized what you were, I could hardly believe it," he went on. "And then I heard one of the tales the people of this planet tell about you. Your race comes from the dawn of the universe, but I doubt there's ever been another like you."

Breath tickled the back of his neck. He spun around to find the space behind him empty.

"You've been flushed out of your home after a thousand years in the dark. You're alone. Confused. Angry."

A nearby branch cracked and fell, scattering water droplets as the tree shivered.

"But not like the others. You helped me, once. Let me return the favor."

The Doctor tracked the sound of leaves shifting through the undergrowth. He kept his eyes trained in the direction of the source, but it remained firmly in the shadows.

"I can take you somewhere else," he promised. "Somewhere where you can feed on time energy without hurting anyone. I can find you a new source, somewhere you can live in peace."

The rustling stopped behind a large, gnarled tree. The Doctor faced the tree squarely, sharp eyes scouring for any sign of the monster peeking at him around the bark.

"This isn't an offer I make lightly," he warned. "I've met your kind before. They're ruthless. Unforgiving. Something odd must've happened to you, and quite frankly, I'd like to know what."

The Doctor blinked.

A stone hand wrapped around the tree trunk, fingers frozen and grasping against the bark, slick and shimmering faintly with raindrops.

"Tell me," the Doctor said softly, "what happens when a Weeping Angel falls in love?"

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

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 _ **Special thanks to everyone that commented!**_


	9. Chapter 9

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 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **Chapter Nine**_

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Soft giggles rose from the kitchen table, echoing through the house and filling it with lighthearted glee. Rose sat beside Mina, a board game sprawled out across the table. It was an interesting mix of Monopoly and Shoots and Ladders.

"Oh, you're _making it up_!"

Rose was at wit's-end trying to figure out the rules of the game. She was almost certain that Mina was making up rules as they became applicable, but didn't know enough about the game to prove it. Actom and Hawee were busy making breakfast, and weren't paying enough attention to help.

The Doctor wasn't being particularly helpful, either. He looked on with a small, fond smile, but couldn't really find it within himself to join, preoccupied by his own thoughts.

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **.**_

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

There was a Weeping Angel in the TARDIS.

The TARDIS was his safe place - his _home_ \- but now there was a monster within its infinite walls, and it didn't sit well with him. Not that he had much reason not to trust the Angel, though she _had_ just come off of a murder-spree. But beyond that… Everyone had their bad days. Right?

The Doctor wasn't entirely convinced.

The Angel had followed him into the TARDIS easy enough. And, as he'd noted before, she _was_ different. She'd revealed herself to him in the woods - and like every angel he'd seen - was a tall robed statue chiseled out of granite with two large, impressive wings extending impressively from her shoulder blades.

 _The Creature of the Labyrinth is kind._

But beyond the basic description, she was unique. Unlike the other Angels he had encountered throughout his long life, she didn't appear malicious, at least not in the traditional sense. Where the Weeping Angels bore an animalistic snarl, her expression was calm, if not somewhat peaceful. Her furrowed brow gave her a thoughtful expression, her chiseled lips pursed into a thin line.

 _The Creature of the Labyrinth is kind._

The journey back to the TARDIS had been the longest, most stressful walk of the Doctor's life. He hadn't wanted Rose anywhere near the Angel, so he'd led this creature of nightmares back to his ship. Alone. In the dark. Not to mention that he'd had to keep his back to her the entire time so she could move without continually being turned to stone.

 _The Creature of the Labyrinth is kind._

It _felt wrong._ Turning his back on a Weeping Angel went against every instinct the Time Lord had. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed - to feel her breath on his neck, to hear the rustle of feathers or a flap of a massive wing - and not turn to look.

 _The Creature of the Labyrinth is kind._

But he refrained. The Doctor kept mentally replaying his encounter with her in the tunnels. Her kindness. Using the voice of his previous regeneration to whisper words of comfort to a man who didn't deserve forgiveness. Her kiss.

 _The Creature of the Labyrinth is kind._

He repeated it like a mantra, and kept it even as the TARDIS shivered when the Angel passed through her threshold. A million deadly things that a Weeping Angel could do with the time energy within a TARDIS flashed through his head. She was inside. One Time Lord would be easy to overpower. All the potential energy in the universe would be hers.

This was a massive exercise in trust. Thankfully, one she seemed to understand and take seriously. The Weeping Angel trailed silently after him as he led her deep into the TARDIS's halls.

The door he led her to was large and heavy, secured by a number of quantum locks - the same kind that sealed the doors to the TARDIS entrance. She could sense them, do doubt, knew that she wouldn't be able to escape unassisted once it was shut. A prison. Yet didn't protest or complain.

Perhaps she was used to it, the idea of being locked up, because her tunnels were a jail of their own design. Or maybe she didn't mind the bars of this particular prison.

The TARDIS had taken the liberty of constructing the perfect space for her, and it definitely was an upgrade from wandering about an endless maze in complete darkness. Through the impenetrable door was a misty orchard, full of old, gnarled apple trees and tall grass weighed down by morning dew. Weeping willows towered here and there, so large that their leaves cascaded down in skirts long enough to brush the ground, creating a myriad of places to hide. Sunlight filtered through the dense leaves, lighting up the mist a brilliant gold before dappling along the grass in delicate patterns.

"The TARDIS filled the room with temporal energy," he explained.

The Doctor closed his eyes to allow her the chance to pass him. The Weeping Angel went in without a word.

He opened his eyes again to see her standing, frozen, underneath one of the willows. The expression on her face was passive as her stone face examined the drooping branches with mild interest, one lifeless hand raised, poised to run her fingers through the leaves.

"My ship should provide you with anything you need," he added, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trench coat. "Is that alright?"

When she didn't respond, he winced, realizing his mistake. The Doctor turned his head away, allowing her the dignity of free movement.

" _Yes_ ," it was Rose's voice that drifted through his mind. The Doctor bristled.

"Don't use her voice," he snapped, perhaps more harshly than he intended. Those horrible screams, ripped from Rose's throat, still echoed through his head. He would hear them in his nightmares for a long time to come. "You don't have the right to use it. It belongs to _her_."

The Angel was quiet for a moment. The Doctor held his tongue, a little worried he'd offended her, but held his ground.

" _Acceptable,_ " Ska's husky voice returned coolly.

The Doctor stifled a sigh of relief. "I'll be back later. I need to go settle things back there. But when I get back, we can talk about prospects, and maybe… if you're willing, that is… about what all has happened to you. Because, quite frankly, you are _fascinating_ …"

He grimaced and tugged at his ear. Rose had warned him about rambling. _Emphatically_.

"Sorry… I'll… just uh… just be going…"

The Doctor allowed himself one last look at the Angel. She stood frozen among the trees, shrouded in most. It was ethereal. An Angel among sunlight and moss. A strange, unearthly guardian.

She looked at home there, at least. Maybe she would be happy until he figured out somewhere else for her to go.

Now that the threat was contained and made reasonably safe, the Doctor's mind was dizzy with the possibilities presented by a benign, if not friendly, Weeping Angel. There was so much unknown about the species, and now he'd just happened upon what was probably the only one that might be more interested in communication than in violence.

He hoped desperately that she might be willing to be an ally. Maybe even a friend.

The Doctor smiled at the thought, which faded when he closed the heavy steel door. The locks clicked into place, sealing the Angel behind an impenetrable wall.

Friendship or not, he wasn't ready to take any chances. Not with the TARDIS. Not with Rose.

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

 _ **.**_

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"And you're sure the murders are over?" Hawee demanded, plunking a plate of eggs and sausage in front of the Doctor, jerking the Time Lord out of his thoughts.

"Oh, yes," the Doctor said with false cheer, plucking up his fork and digging in with relish. "She's safe inside my ship. I'll take her somewhere she can't bother anyone."

"So we're just gonna let her go?" Rose asked. Hawee set down a plate for her as well. "Thanks. She did all that stuff, and we're just gonna take her with us?"

He sniffed a bite of sausage and popped it in his mouth. "Can't leave her here."

"Can she not… I dunno… stand trial or something?"

"A lot of people have died," Hawee pointed out. "Our people will want someone to answer for those deaths."

The Doctor shook his head. "She's not some ordinary murderer. The Weeping Angels have existed since the dawn of the universe. They're quantum-locked… they _literally_ turn to stone and cease to exist the moment they're looked at. You can't kill them. There's no way your lot would be able to keep one contained for very long. It's safer for everyone if she stays where she is."

Hawee sighed and settled down at the table next to Mina. He picked up a napkin and tried to wipe crumbs off of his granddaughter's face. "What do I tell the boys at the station? They'll laugh me out of town if I tell 'em the truth."

"Then don't tell them anything," the Doctor instructed. "Let the Adjudicator fade away and be forgotten, and this whole incident will just become one of the unsolved mysteries of Glocnappenspa."

Actom finally sat down at the table with them. He had been quiet all morning. Learning about the Weeping Angel had affected him strangely, and he'd been lost in his own thoughts.

"Mina," Hawee said quickly, "why don't you show Rose your doll house?"

Mina's face lit up at the idea. She all but leapt out of her seat. Rose hardly had the chance to shoot the other grownups a look of betrayal before she was dragged out of the room by the hand.

"So in the tunnels… " Actom said finally, once they were out of earshot, " … all those years ago… that was the Angel?"

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed quietly. Hawee rubbed his husband's shoulder comfortingly.

"I thought it was my dad," his voice ached with despair born from a childhood wound that never fully healed. "After what he did to mom… he didn't want us anymore… I thought he'd changed his mind… and… and came back to save me."

The Doctor's ancient brown eyes were dark with sympathy. "A Weeping Angel has no voice of its own," he explained slowly. "But they're telepathic. To communicate, they find a voice that they've already heard and project it into your mind. She used your father's voice because it was one you both knew."

Actom swallowed hard. "She killed him, right? He went and asked for forgiveness, and she didn't give it to him."

"I'm sorry," was all the Doctor could say.

Actom went quiet for a long moment, staring at his and Hawee's intertwined hands.

"He got what he deserved."

Both the Doctor and Hawee looked surprised at the bitterness in his voice. Actom lifted his gaze to meet the Doctor's, and the look in his eyes was hard and resolute.

"Actom — " Hawee began.

"No," he said sternly. "I mean it. He killed my mom because he was having an affair and she found out. And then tried to validate his choices instead of facing justice. I'm _glad_ the Adjudicator didn't forgive him. I know I never will."

Actom abruptly stood and bustled around the table, clearing away the dishes to distract from the tears leaking down his face.

The Doctor sat with his head bowed in solemn acknowledgement.

"He'll be alright," Hawee murmured when his husband all but fled from the room. "He has closure, now. Maybe he can finally heal."

"There are some things we never truly heal from," the Doctor said softly.

"Sometimes." Hawee studied the Doctor's face with narrowed eyes. "You went into the Labyrinth too, didn't you?"

The Doctor didn't verbally respond, but the blank expression that settled onto his face was confirmation enough.

Hawee nodded knowingly. "I won't ask you what you wanted forgiveness for, but whatever it was, the Adjudicator judged you worthy of forgiveness."

"Forgiveness from a Weeping Angel," the Doctor deadpanned. "Somehow, that's not comforting."

Hawee offered him a sympathetic smile. "Sometimes the only person we need forgiveness from is ourselves."

The Doctor didn't respond. Hawee smiled sadly and moved off, presumably to find his husband and offer comfort.

When Hawee was gone, the Doctor stood slowly and made his way through the house, following the sounds of Mina's giggling to a side room that evidently served as a playroom.

Rose sat cross-legged on the floor, watching the playing child with an expression of bemusement and mild irritation maring her pretty brow. The Doctor smiled wistfully as Mina shoved a two headed doll into Rose's hand, babbling an explanation about names and the interrelationships of doll society.

It took the pair a moment to realize they were being watched. Rose glanced up at the Doctor expectantly, equal parts embarrassed and impatient.

The Doctor wiggled his fingers at Mina, who looked disappointed at the prospect of losing her new playmate. The Doctor produced a lollipop from one of the interior pockets of his trench coat, which Mina took with a pleased squeal.

"We've done about all we can do here ," the Time Lord said quietly. "It's time we were off."

 _ **~0~0~0~**_

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End file.
